NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, January 10th
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The RotoGrinders NHL Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the NHL schedule. This article will break down the numbers for every single game and give you analysis on which trends you can exploit. While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy hockey there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, salaries, and more.
The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections. Hockey is an extremely high variance sport. The best choice is not always the right choice but following the trends will win you money over time.
Remember, these writeups are done prior to lineups being released, so make sure to check our Starting Lineups page to ensure the recommended options are playing.
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Columbus Blue Jackets at Carolina Hurricanes
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Michael Leighton | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-7-4 | 18-15-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.33 | 2.15 | 26.70% | 81.80% | Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.60 | 18.10% | 88.00% |
The Blue Jackets got back to business on Sunday night as they were able to beat the Flyers in overtime by a score of 2-1 in front of the home crowd. Tonight Columbus takes the best team in the league on the road to do battle with a very tough team to play against in their own barn in the form of the Carolina Hurricanes. Look for the top line of Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno and Brandon Saad to get their opportunities but I wouldn’t go all in here as they will be blanketed for most of the night. They have collected just two goals over the last five games which is a far cry from the 36 goals they had combined for in the team’s first 34 games. Cam Atkinson is about the best one-off play you will find these days, especially on the road. By playing on the second line with Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky, Atkinson has been able to lead the team with 19 goals, 117 shots and 39 points so far this season. A good chunk of those points have been scored away from his line mates as 18 of the points have come at even strength. Sam Gagner jumps up from the fourth line to join Atkinson, Wennberg and Foligno when the Blue Jackets have the man advantage and has been pleasant surprise by lighting the lamp 14 times while adding 16 assists. 14 of his 30 points have come on the power play which makes it pretty clear why he would be another nice one-off play tonight. Zachary Werenski is usually the defensemen to look at when talking about Columbus as he gets most of the time when the Blue Jackets draw a penalty. Production though has been a different story lately as he has been able to find the score sheet just once over the last five games. Seth Jones is finally looking like he is skating better since returning from the broken foot he suffered in St Louis back on November 12th. We all know what Jones can do but a broken foot is no joke, especially when your job requires lacing up the skates.
As mentioned above the Carolina Hurricanes play a tougher brand of hockey when on home ice. Their 12-4-1 record in front of the home crowd is a tribute to that and will look to make some in roads in the Eastern Conference standing on home ice tonight. Since the hurricanes plucked Ty Rattie off of waivers he has been skating on the top line with Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask. It’s never a bad thing to come in and start playing with the two players that lead the team in scoring but we do have to take some caution here as the 23 year old was never given a fair shot in St Louis. It is tough to tell if the 231 points he tallied in the last 2 seasons he played in the WHL three years ago will come anywhere near to making it in the NHL, but at least the upside is there. Derek Ryan replaces Rattie on the top line when the Hurricanes draw a penalty as he has lit the lamp three times over the last five games. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen have slowly but surely been coming up the ranks where the Hurricanes scoring is concerned. Aho sits in third place with ten goals and 13 assists while Teravainen is just two points behind him. Lee Stempniak rounds out the second line with 19 points. Justin Faulk has returned from injury to quarterback the Hurricanes top power play unit that has scored just one goal in the last ten games. He is joined by fellow defenseman Noah Hanifin on the back line but with having 11 other teams in action tonight, this may be a good time to look somewhere else.
Elite Plays
CBJ: Cam Atkinson
CAR: Jeff Skinner
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, Sam Gagner, Zachary Werenski, Brandon Saad
CAR: Victor Rask, Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk
Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres
| Philadelphia Flyers | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Robin Lehner | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-15-6 | 15-15-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.83 | 2.98 | 21.50% | 81.70% | Team Stats | 2.26 | 2.67 | 21.90% | 74.30% |
We all know the story of the Flyers ten game win streak that got them into the playoff picture and the apparent setbacks they had endured over the next that has led them to a 2-5-3 record over the last ten games. In an effort to mix things up a bit Philadelphia shuffled their lines up two games and has been good so far as they came away with three points in those two games. They beat Tampa Bay on Saturday and took the best team in the league to overtime a day later before eventually falling by a score of 2-1. Claude Giroux, Michael Raffl and Matt Read skate on the top line while Sean Couturier centers Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek on the team’s ‘second’ line. Only Giroux and Voracek get tapped to skate on the top power play unit which obviously gives them a better shot at putting points on the board than the other four. Raffl and Giroux have seemed to click a little bit since the changes but Read looks lost as his six shots over the last four games would seem to indicate. Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds join the team’s top two scorers when the Flyers have the man advantage and would normally make a great play coming off the third line on the road. The problem is when we say ‘third line’ that’s just how they stack up in practice. With road games it’s a bit different as Buffalo’s head coach Dan Bylsma could decide that Simmonds and Schenn are the team’s best line and put his best defensive line against them. Against Buffalo it may not matter who matches up with what line, but it’s something to think about when the Flyers play the better teams when they hit the road. Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov are the choices on the back line with Gostisbehere getting the ever so slight advantage as his extra ice time on the power play has his him ahead of the rookie by one with 19 points.
It really doesn’t matter where the Sabres play their games as their home and road records are basically about the same. 7-7-6 is their road record while they are 8-8-3 in front of the home crowd. This is where we find them tonight as they try to stay in the playoff conversation in the Eastern Conference. They are six points away from Ottawa for the eighth and final playoff spot and need to jump over another three teams just to get there. The top line of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Marcus Foligno should be the line to target tonight as this line has tallied five goals over the last five games. Foligno has three of those goals while both Eichel and Reinhart have four points apiece in those five games. Buffalo has scored ten of their 89 goals over the last three games so maybe there is some hope that they will put a few on the board tonight. Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo skate on the other Buffalo scoring line and join Eichel and Reinhart on the team’s top power play unit that has lit the lamp three times over the last three games. Okposo leads the team with 12 goals and 27 points which has been fueled by finding the score sheet five times over the last five games. Meanwhile, O’Reilly has snared four points in the two games he has played in since returning from injury. It’s funny what happens when a team starts to get healthy. Matt Moulson makes for an interesting punt play as his seven power play goals led the team in that department. Moulson has been bounced around a bit with all of the injuries as he sees a lot of time on the team’s second power play unit. Rasmus Ristolainen is the play on the back line as 15 of his 26 points have come while quarterbacking the Sabres top power play unit. Buffalo has been scoring of late and I wouldn’t expect that to come to a grinding halt in front of the home crowd.
Sabres Update
It now appears that the Sabres will shuffle up their lines for tonight’s games. I still don’t get the reasoning behind trying to squeeze three scoring lines out of six players, especially at home, but here you go. Eichel now feels like a one-off play as O’Reilly and Okposo can be used as a pair as well as Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart.
Foligno-Eichel-Gionta
Carrier-O’Reilly-Okposo
Kane-Reinhart-Bailey
D’Lo-Girgensons-Moulson
Elite Plays
PHL: Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux
BUF: Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly
Secondary Plays
PHL: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere
BUF: Sam Reinhart, Kyle Okposo, Rasmus Ristolainen
Boston Bruins at St. Louis Blues
| Boston Bruins | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Tuukka Rask |  | Jake Allen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-17-5 | 21-14-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.40 | 2.42 | 14.50% | 88.00% | Team Stats | 2.83 | 2.93 | 21.90% | 85.80% |
Just when the Bruins needed it most they come up with a key 4-0 win in Florida and were able to come away with a point in their 4-3 overtime loss in Carolina on Sunday night. Those three points have launched them into second place in the Atlantic Division. The problem is that both Ottawa and Toronto, who are right behind them in the standings and have played 39 games compared to the 43 that Boston has played. Brad Marchand continues to be the go to guy as his five points over the last five games has him leading the team in points with 13 goals and 22 assists on a team leading 122 shots. David Pastrnak leads the team in goals with 19 as he and Patrice Bergeron complete the team’s top line and pull double duty when Boston draws a penalty. It is for this reason that they can be used for tournament play as the bruins have scored four power play goals over the last six games while St Louis has given up seven goals in the last seven while trying to kill off a minor penalty. The second line sees Ryan Spooner moving up to the top power play unit while David Krejci and David Backes skate with him on the second line at even strength. This line can also be looked at for tournament play as the Blues have given up 13 goals in the first four games of their current home stand that ends tonight. Torey Krug is the play on the back line as he soaks almost all of the power play time from the point. His three assists in the last five games now has him at 23 points in the 43 games the Bruins have played.
St Louis puts their 16-4-4 home record on the line tonight as they host a very desperate Boston team that needs to keep winning if they want to stay in the playoff picture. For the Blues the situation is not that dire as they sit comfortably in third place in the Central Division with 47 points. Head coach ken Hitchcock has helped us out here as he has re-inserted Robby Fabbri back on the top line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera. If you read the Grind Down on Saturday I spoke about how his stock had dropped since being demoted to the third line but now in light of the line change its back to all systems go. I guess it was hard to deny Fabbri’s stats as his three goals and three assists in the last five games which has now moved him to being the second best scorer on the team. Lehtera is the only play I may shy away from as he has had plenty of time and exposure to Tarasenko but has put up just 12 points in 35 games. Hitchcock also said that after last game he liked the way that Nail Yakupov played on the second line with Alexander Steen and Paul Stastny and has kept him there for tonight’s game. This maneuver has bumped Jaden Schwartz to the third line with David Perron and Patrik Berglund. Only Steen and Schwartz get tapped on the shoulder to skate on the top power play with Tarasenko and Lehtera. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is the play from the point as 15 of his 26 pints have been recorded while quarterbacking the Blues top power play unit. Look for the Blues to improve on their sparkling record in front of the home crowd tonight.
Elite Plays
BOS: Brad Marchand
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
BOS: David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Patrice Bergeron
STL: Robby Fabbri, Kevin Shattenkirk, Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz
Vancouver Canucks at Nashville Predators
| Vancouver Canucks | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-19-3 | 17-16-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.40 | 2.86 | 14.10% | 80.30% | Team Stats | 2.78 | 2.68 | 19.10% | 82.30% |
Vancouver saw their six game winning streak snapped on the back end of a home-and-home series with the Calgary Flames. The 3-1 loss in Calgary Saturday night has them sitting with 43 points in the Pacific Division. The Canucks have made a few small changes to their plan of attack for tonight’s game as Loui Eriksson will now skate on the right wing on the top line with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. This maneuver makes this line a little better and makes sense as I am sure this is the line that Vancouver wants Nashville to put their best defensive line against. This will effectively leave the line of Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Alexandre Burrows with a little more skating room which is a good thing. This line has been one of the hottest lines in the league as both Horvat and Baertschi have combined for seven goals and four assists over the last five games. Look for the scoring to continue tonight against a Nashville team that has lost their last five games in front of the home crowd. Troy Stecher and Ben Hutton can be choices from the back line but Alexander Edler has been making some noise of late as his three assists in the last five games represent almost half of his season point total. Five of the six Canucks wins during the streak were on home ice so now we get to see if they can go on the road and improve on their 5-13-1 record away from home.
Even though James Neal may be ready to come back and play he is not eligible to come off of the injured reserve list until tomorrow. This means that the predators will be without their leading goal scorer until at least Thursday. Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok will be the line to target tonight as they will skate as the team’s top line. Johansen leads the team with 14 power play points and in total points while Forsberg’s 25 points is four points behind the team leader. There is some doubt as to whether or not Viktor Arvidsson will play as he has been nursing an upper-body injury. With all of these injuries plaguing the Predators their second line will consist of Mike Fisher, Auston Watson and Colton Sissons. This makes Mike Fisher a decent one-off play here as he will play on the top power play unit along with Johansen and third-liner Kevin Fiala. Fisher leads the team with six power play goals and has grabbed four points over the last four games to lead the team in that category. Roman Josi and Mattias Ekholm complete the team’s top power play unit that has scored just one time in the last four games. Josi is easily the play here as he leads the team with 120 shots that has produced 20 points so far this season. Nashville needs a strong game out of their top line tonight to pull of the win tonight.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
NSH: Ryan Johansen
Secondary Plays
VAN: Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
NSH: Filip Forsberg, Mike Fisher, Roman Josi, Kevin Fiala
Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks
| Detroit Red Wings | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Petr Mrazek |  | Corey Crawford | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-18-5 | 26-12-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.88 | 11.20% | 83.20% | Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.40 | 18.50% | 76.10% |
Detroit is another team that has been decimated with injuries for most of the year and their record of 17-18-5 reflects that. The 39 points that the red Wings have collected is the second worst in the Eastern Conference and although they are not out of the playoff conversation yet, they are getting dangerously close. The good news is the defenseman Mike Green will return to the lineup tonight to try and give a boost to the listless power play that has just scored once over the last ten games. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Niklas Kronwall was back at the point for most of the season but is now injured giving Detroit no choice but to put their best scoring defenseman back their while they enjoy the man advantage. Henrik Zetterberg will center the top line along with Gustav Nyquist and Anthony Mantha. It looks like Mantha is hitting his stride as he has five goals and three assists over the last five games while leading the team with 20 shots. Anthony Anathasiou, Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek will skate on the second line while Tomas Tatar has been dropped down to the third line to play alongside of Dylan Larkin and Justin Abdelkader. This may be a tough game for the Red Wings as this is their sixth straight game away from the Joe Louis Arena and to be quite honest, they haven’t been lighting it up like they should. Head coach Jeff Blashill has tried many combinations this season and is still looking for three players to step up and establish themselves as the top line.
It looks like the experiment of using four forwards on the top power play unit has sadly come to an end. Jonathan Toews will now drop back to the second unit as the Hawks had only scored one goal in the last five games when they had the man advantage. This will mean that Brent Seabrook will go back on the point and play alongside of Duncan Keith when Chicago draws a penalty. Keith is always an option especially on home ice but Seabrook can’t be discounted as ten of his 21 points have come on the power play. Toews will remain on the team’s second line and center Marian Hossa and Vincent Hinostroza. This line can be used as a GPP play as Hossa is up to 16 goals on the season while Hinostroza makes a good punt play just based on the talent he gets to play with. Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov could be considered as the line stack of the night as this group has accounted for 47 goals and 69 assists so far this season. 33 of those points have come with the man advantage as they get to see the ice for a good amount of time when the Hawks draw a penalty. Look for Chicago to keep rolling tonight and improve on their 16-4-4 record in front of the home crowd.
Elite Plays
DET: None
CHI: Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov, Patrick Kane
Secondary Plays
DET: Anthony Mantha, Henrik Zetterberg, Thomas Vanek, Dylan Larkin, Mike Green
CHI: Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook